The mobile phone industry, because of its desire to maintain high environmental standards, has voluntarily developed the Mobile Phone Industry Recycling Program. The program aims to ensure that the potentially toxic components in mobile phones, their batteries and accessories do not end up in landfill, but rather, are recycled.

2.      How is the Mobile Phone Industry Recycling Program funded?

The Mobile Phone Industry Recycling Program is a voluntary program funded by a levy on the sale of new mobile phone handsets from participating mobile phone manufacturers and network carriers.

3.      How do I know if my battery  are ready to  be  recycled?

All battery packs have a finite life depending on usage, design and quality.  Your battery is ready to be replaced when it is dead, no longer charges effectively or talk time is significantly reduced.  Mobile phone handsets and accessories can be recycled when you no longer want them or if you are upgrading your phone and have no further use for the old one and its accessories.

4.      What will it cost me to recycle my mobile phone battery?

This service is offered free of charge to consumers.  The Mobile Phone Industry Recycling Program is a voluntary program funded by a levy on the sale of new mobile phone handsets from participating mobile phone manufacturers and network carriers.

5.      Are all brands of phone batteries accepted for recycling?

Yes.  Simply take your unwanted mobile phone handsets, batteries and accessories to participating mobile phone retailers or where you see the recycling logo and place them in the recycle bin.

6.      Where do I take my old or unwanted mobile phone, their batteries for

         Recycling?

Most major mobile phone retailers are participants of the program (or soon will be).  Look for the logo on mobile phone retailer shopfronts.

To locate your nearest participating retailer, visit the AMTA website at 

www.amta.org.au/recycle 

or email us at recycle@amta.org.au.

How does recycling work

• In Australia, more than 40 per cent, or over eight million people, own a mobile phone and exchange it on average every 18 – 24 months.  This obviously represents a high proportion of waste, yet what is not widely known is those mobile handsets, including batteries and accessories, are recyclable through the Mobile Phone Industry Recycling Program.
• Melbourne-based MRI (specialists in waste management including office and telecommunications equipment) are engaged by AMTA to collect mobile phones, batteries and accessories and are currently collecting from more than 700 participating stores throughout Australia.
• Societe Nouvelle D’Affinage Des Métaux (SNAM) currently manages the specialist bath smelting procedure that is the basis of the recycling process for nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride batteries and Pasminco processes lead acid batteries in Australia. 
• The batteries are ground into small pieces and fed into a special furnace, which is able to process the material at rates of up to 170kg an hour.
• The batteries are then burned at 1200 degrees Celsius, which consumes the plastic and allows the various metals to be collected and cooled. 
• Marketable products from the recycling process include:
  • Nickel - used in the production of stainless steel;
  • Cadmium - a component used in new batteries;
  • Plastics – used in furniture; and
  • Small amounts of gold and copper.
• This recycling process is highly efficient, has high productivity and provides a complete breakdown of chemical compounds.  It is suitable for all phones and batteries, including the newer Lithium Ion and Nickel-Metal Hydride types.
• The recycling process is also successful in preventing the reformation of environmentally damaging compounds such as dioxins and furans in the exhaust gas stream.
• Mobile phone handsets and accessories are stored until the completion of a planned MRI processing facility that will ensure that close to 100 per cent of the components in these items are recycled.
• Since the program's initial NSW trial and national launch in 1999, approximately 30 tonnes (or enough to fill a small suburban house) of mobile phones, batteries and accessories have been collected for recycling in Australia.  The industry hopes to build on this success in the future.

Also you can visit http://www.planetark.org/